My First Art Show!

During the month of January (2009), I had eleven of my works on display at a local Coffee shop. Once the work was hanging, things were pretty easy... getting there on the other hand... that was ALOT of work!

It began years ago when I started sharing my work with people online. The responses to my images were so positive that I began thinking about what it would be like to one day see my work on actual walls instead of on a computer screen.

I had been creating everything for display on the internet before realizing that I wanted to bring my images into the real, physical world. To bring my work to life required many changes to the creative process... and a better computer to handle the tremendous file sizes! Creating web graphics does not take much in the way of resources... but to make images for large format printing... let's just say that my computer could use more muscle. Alot more muscle.

Click a thumbnail to open full sized image.

Once I had all of the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way I was able to focus on other things... like my artwork. After I felt that my work was ready, it was time to print. Once that was done, I had to frame and matt every one that I wished to display. During the summer of 2008, I searched far and wide for the specific frames that I wanted to use for my work. I built my own matt cutting table and got busy making everything look grand... after all, presentation is everything.

Part of my presentation was to share what my thoughts were during the creative process. Given the surreal nature of my work, I like to encourage viewers to really look at what I create. Sharing my own personal interpretation goes a long way to doing just that. Beneath each of my images is a smaller, framed version of the image that contains my thoughts and what the image means to me. I really feel that doing so encourages viewers to look closer after having read what I have written and come to their own conclusions on what the image means to them personally.

During the month that my work was on display, I would often frequent the Coffee shop to relax. I would observe how people walking in reacted to the artwork hanging on the walls (if they reacted at all that is). I would listen to what people were saying about the images, and I watched as they read the thoughts that were hanging beneath the large prints. Whenever I came in, the people working would light up a smile and tell me how much people liked my work... how much they themselves liked my work.

In truth, I had no idea if anybody would even react to my show. My work is unique and strange... not to everybodys liking I am sure. It was impossible to guess whether or not I would be the only one who really enjoyed seeing those prints hanging on the walls, or if they would speak to people other than me. I am truly happy to say that all of the hard work... all of the time and effort... every bit of the journey was worth it to me. Bringing these works into the living, breathing world was almost like a dream come true.

I'm looking forward to the next show. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

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John Alexander.